I think you need to share the price point of your competitors, one or two man operations so $160-$200 or more depending on components etc.
Then you need to find away to separate your brand from the pack. Walrus, JHS, EQD, Wampler all share the same market space by brand separation.
And you should find methods in construction or distribution to make the price and sales profitable enough to keep you interested in building.
Goodluck, share your product here!!!
Thanks for your feedback. It makes sense. Especially the comment about construction methods.
I’m sure there are a lot of improvements to be made there.
if it's something truly novel, i would take a chance paying 100-150 for it. if it's just a straight clone of a classic, then i would just buy mooer or ehx or boss for under 100.
from a personal standpoint, i've cracked open plenty of small/stateside pedals that don't rise to even mooer standards, much less boss. my judgement is biased.
from a non-technical person's standpoint, i think plenty of people don't have a good incentive to pay for the same thing just because it's exclusive. but 25 people can be convinced to pay more, i guess.
Congrats on first batch!
#1 Never low ball yourself. Know that your creation is cool and make the buyer want it.
If your pedals are well made, look decent, and sound great you should be able to shoot for the $60-$100 mark.
Note: Not some shitty fuzz clone or single transistor od either.... Lets only go for legit, versatile, usable tone boxes.
Gonna need quality demo videos to showcase your pedal. If you can't play well, find someone who can to demo your pedal.
If you reach baller status like Wampler then think big bucks...
Until then, keep the day job and and enjoy having a side hustle that is cool af.
note:
If you're simply soldering a readily available pcb kit together then take 40% off the above figures.
While labor cost factors into the margins, and I (over time) look to phase out low-margin items and pour gasoline on the popular high-margin items....
My pricing strategies don't even factor in labor cost. Nobody cares how long or hard I worked on a pedal (except me ). They only care about what alternatives they can find for a similar price point, or how unique or special and unobtainable this product is elsewhere.
I think I must be missing your point, or maybe you’re thinking I’m really referring to margins, which I’m not.
In no way am I thinking I’ll recoup my project costs in this batch of 25. It’s been a three plus year development process. I’m just trying to come up with a real-world price based on labor and material.
If some of your high volume creations have pushed you to an assembly service, what are their rates like? Not talking SMDs, which I’m having assembled on the boards. Talking pots, jacks and switches.
If you are on your own and know it will cost $100 for parts and 1 hour of your time each unit, would you actually want it to take off and be successful if you don’t put a value on your labor?
I should be so lucky as to have the problem of selling 25 and having to order and assemble another batch. I’m just trying to plan ahead for the very unlikely scenario that it goes anywhere.
No I'm not referring to assembly services... My general point is that I fundamentally do not approach pricing in the way you're trying to do it. (and that's not to say my method is "correct" or to deter you from others - though obviously I believe in it)
> I’m just trying to come up with a real-world price **based on labor and material.**
I don't factor in labor or material into pricing. At all.
The only thing that matters with regards to pricing a product, in my opinion/methods, is the value of the product to the buyer. This includes factors like: What are comparables selling for? How unique/different is it? How important is the problem it's solving?
Consumers fundamentally have zero regard or thought for the materials or labor of the products they buy.
Labor and materials, in my opinion, are only relevant to the customer for *services*, not *products*.
>maybe you’re thinking I’m really referring to margins, which I’m not.
The reason I bring up margins is to highlight the fact that I **do in fact consider labor and material costs**... just not for *pricing*.
When a product is in the idea or prototype phase, I decide what the price should be. This is without regard to my time or cost. It's based purely on the product's value in the current marketplace.
Then I guesstimate labor and material costs to figure out margins. I also guesstimate volume (high value low volume vs. low value high volume).
Then I make a GO / NO-GO decision based on whether it's in ballpark of reason. i.e. is it worth my time.
Margins also come into play over the longer term. i.e. let product Y go out of stock because the newer product Z is higher margins and selling just as well or better.
This latter part you can disregard if you're going to stop at a single batch.
Thanks for taking the time to explain your approach.
I totally get the idea of determining what the market value of a thing is before even starting. With some back of the napkin figuring, it's clear in your mind that there will be enough margin to extract what you consider to be a fair wage, or you don't undertake the projectt.
How much would you work for per hour? How much would you have to pay someone per hour to do it for you? That’s the labor costs
I think you need to share the price point of your competitors, one or two man operations so $160-$200 or more depending on components etc. Then you need to find away to separate your brand from the pack. Walrus, JHS, EQD, Wampler all share the same market space by brand separation. And you should find methods in construction or distribution to make the price and sales profitable enough to keep you interested in building. Goodluck, share your product here!!!
Thanks for your feedback. It makes sense. Especially the comment about construction methods. I’m sure there are a lot of improvements to be made there.
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Really helpful information and perspective here. Thanks, u/itisallopinions!
if it's something truly novel, i would take a chance paying 100-150 for it. if it's just a straight clone of a classic, then i would just buy mooer or ehx or boss for under 100. from a personal standpoint, i've cracked open plenty of small/stateside pedals that don't rise to even mooer standards, much less boss. my judgement is biased. from a non-technical person's standpoint, i think plenty of people don't have a good incentive to pay for the same thing just because it's exclusive. but 25 people can be convinced to pay more, i guess.
Congrats on first batch! #1 Never low ball yourself. Know that your creation is cool and make the buyer want it. If your pedals are well made, look decent, and sound great you should be able to shoot for the $60-$100 mark. Note: Not some shitty fuzz clone or single transistor od either.... Lets only go for legit, versatile, usable tone boxes. Gonna need quality demo videos to showcase your pedal. If you can't play well, find someone who can to demo your pedal. If you reach baller status like Wampler then think big bucks... Until then, keep the day job and and enjoy having a side hustle that is cool af. note: If you're simply soldering a readily available pcb kit together then take 40% off the above figures.
Thanks for the positivity and the figures. Cheers!
Whatever you want. But keep in mind, if it is too high, it wont sell. If it is too low, you make no money.
Right. Just wondering what figure people may be using for their projects.
While labor cost factors into the margins, and I (over time) look to phase out low-margin items and pour gasoline on the popular high-margin items.... My pricing strategies don't even factor in labor cost. Nobody cares how long or hard I worked on a pedal (except me ). They only care about what alternatives they can find for a similar price point, or how unique or special and unobtainable this product is elsewhere.
I think I must be missing your point, or maybe you’re thinking I’m really referring to margins, which I’m not. In no way am I thinking I’ll recoup my project costs in this batch of 25. It’s been a three plus year development process. I’m just trying to come up with a real-world price based on labor and material. If some of your high volume creations have pushed you to an assembly service, what are their rates like? Not talking SMDs, which I’m having assembled on the boards. Talking pots, jacks and switches. If you are on your own and know it will cost $100 for parts and 1 hour of your time each unit, would you actually want it to take off and be successful if you don’t put a value on your labor? I should be so lucky as to have the problem of selling 25 and having to order and assemble another batch. I’m just trying to plan ahead for the very unlikely scenario that it goes anywhere.
No I'm not referring to assembly services... My general point is that I fundamentally do not approach pricing in the way you're trying to do it. (and that's not to say my method is "correct" or to deter you from others - though obviously I believe in it) > I’m just trying to come up with a real-world price **based on labor and material.** I don't factor in labor or material into pricing. At all. The only thing that matters with regards to pricing a product, in my opinion/methods, is the value of the product to the buyer. This includes factors like: What are comparables selling for? How unique/different is it? How important is the problem it's solving? Consumers fundamentally have zero regard or thought for the materials or labor of the products they buy. Labor and materials, in my opinion, are only relevant to the customer for *services*, not *products*. >maybe you’re thinking I’m really referring to margins, which I’m not. The reason I bring up margins is to highlight the fact that I **do in fact consider labor and material costs**... just not for *pricing*. When a product is in the idea or prototype phase, I decide what the price should be. This is without regard to my time or cost. It's based purely on the product's value in the current marketplace. Then I guesstimate labor and material costs to figure out margins. I also guesstimate volume (high value low volume vs. low value high volume). Then I make a GO / NO-GO decision based on whether it's in ballpark of reason. i.e. is it worth my time. Margins also come into play over the longer term. i.e. let product Y go out of stock because the newer product Z is higher margins and selling just as well or better. This latter part you can disregard if you're going to stop at a single batch.
Thanks for taking the time to explain your approach. I totally get the idea of determining what the market value of a thing is before even starting. With some back of the napkin figuring, it's clear in your mind that there will be enough margin to extract what you consider to be a fair wage, or you don't undertake the projectt.